Model S

2021 Tesla Model S Doors Owners Manual

Contents hide

1 2021 Tesla Model S Doors

2 Doors

2.1 Using Exterior Door Handles

3 Opening Doors from the Interior

4 Interior Locking and Unlocking

5 Driver Door Unlock Mode

6 Walk-Away Door Lock

7 Drive Away Locking

8 Child Locks

9 Unlock on Park

2021 Tesla Model S Doors

Doors

Using Exterior Door Handles

A light press on a door handle extends it provided Model S is unlocked and detects a phone key or key fob nearby. You can set door handles to extend automatically when you approach the driver’s side carrying a phone key or key fob. Touch Controls > Locks > Auto-Present Handles.

Insert your hand into the handle and pull to open the door.

Door handles retract if you do not use them within one minute after they extend. Just press a handle to extend it again. Door handles also retract a minute after the last door closes, when Model S begins moving, and when you lock Model S.

Note

To preserve battery life, Model S is designed to temporarily disable the Auto-Present Handles feature if the vehicle is unable to detect a phone key nearby.

In these cases, extend a door handle by pressing it, or by pressing the unlock button on the key fob. There is no need to reset the setting. The next time you approach Model S, provided the above conditions do not apply, handles automatically extend.

Opening Doors from the Interior

Model S doors are electrically powered. To open a door while sitting inside, press the button located at the top of the interior door handle and push the door open.

Note

To prevent children from opening the rear doors, turn on child locks (see Child Locks).

To open a front door in the unlikely situation when Model S has no power, pull up the manual door release located in front of the window switches.

To open a rear door in the unlikely situation when Model S has no power, fold back the edge of the carpet below the rear seats to expose the mechanical release cable. Pull the mechanical release cable toward the center of the vehicle.

CAUTION

Manual door releases are designed to be used only in situations when Model S has no power. When Model S has power, use the button located at the top of the interior door handle.

Interior Locking and Unlocking

While sitting inside Model S, you can lock and unlock all doors and trunks by touching the lock icon in Controls.

The icon changes to indicate whether doors are locked or unlocked.

Driver Door Unlock Mode

Enabling Controls > Locks > Driver Door Unlock Mode only unlocks the driver door when you first unlock Model S.

Walk-Away Door Lock

Doors and trunks can automatically lock when you walk away carrying your phone key or paired key fob. To turn this feature on or off, touch Controls > Locks > Walk-Away Door Lock.

When the doors lock, the exterior lights flash once and the mirrors fold (if Fold Mirrors is on). To also hear a confirmation sound when Model S locks, touch Controls > Locks > Lock Confirmation Sound.

Model S does not automatically lock if:

You check the Exclude Home checkbox and Model S is parked at the location you have designated as Home. For details on how to designate a location as Home, see Home, Work, and Favorite Destinations.
A phone key or paired key fob is detected inside Model S.
A door or trunk is not fully closed.
The phone key’s Bluetooth setting is turned off.
The key fob or phone key remains within range for five minutes after all doors have been closed.

Drive Away Locking

Model S automatically locks all doors (including the trunks) when your driving speed exceeds 5 mph (8 km/h).

Child Locks

Model S has child locks on the rear doors to prevent them from being opened using the interior release buttons. On the touchscreen, touch Controls > Locks > Child Lock. You can choose Both to engage the child lock on both rear doors, or you can choose Left or Right to engage it on just a specific door.

Warning

It is recommended that you turn on child locks when children are seated in the rear seats.